Associate staff writer Jonathan Masters at the Council of Foreign Relations discusses the US shift towards Asia:

Many observers see the shift toward the Asia-Pacific region as a natural, if long overdue, transition for the United States as it draws down in Iraq and Afghanistan. CFR President Richard N. Haass says the U.S. “rediscovery” of East Asia and the Pacific is a welcome development after Washington’s long preoccupation with the Middle East. On ForeignPolicy.com, Patrick M. Cronin says, thus far, China has taken advantage of a light U.S. military footprint in the region. A failure to address the imbalance directly, coupled with U.S. military cuts exceeding Pentagon recommendations, “will accelerate China’s relative rise,” he cautions.

But critics suggest the U.S. move toward Asia could reinforce China’s fear of encirclement and prompt further militarization of an already unstable region. Writing in The Hill, Gen. Stephen A. Cheney and Joshua Foust of the American Security Project say the “the prospect of a major conflict with China is remote, and assuming one is inevitable poses the danger of becoming a self-fulfilling prophesy.”

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